Help with build!

[Matt Thorn]

My bad, i will search next time! EL seems perfectly adequate, i will probably get an EL kit.

So will my set-up piece together? All these dimensions are frying my brain!

I'm not sure why you would want to go with EL, since LED is easier, brighter, and (I think) cheaper. If you look through the blade-holder catalog carefully, you'll see that there are LED versions of all the EL blade holders.

[Jedi-Loreen]

EL wire is not easy to work with, take it from someone who used to make blades for people before TCSS existed. I've probably made 50 of them.

It's not at all the same as stripping a regular wire, it's a lot trickier. I couldn't do it consistently with regular wire strippers.

LED is easier, and brighter and everything is inside the hilt, no electronics in the blade.

[Matt Thorn]

...and nobody knows EL better than Jedi-Loreen, so her word carries a lot of weight.

You are going to have your hands full fashioning that shroud; you should keep the electronics as simple as possible. I strongly suggest you get one of Tim's kits. I gather this is your first saber, so I think you should focus on that shroud and forgo sound this time around.

I suppose you have your reasons for wanting to stick to that bulging shroud design, but I can tell you that if you skip the bulge, you could make the shroud using a sinktube and Dremel in less than an hour, whereas creating that bulge will entail a lot of experimenting and a lot of failure before you find something that works. Just something to keep in mind if you have a deadline for your project.

[Beany]

Again thanks for the help everyone

I will go LED, i just found the blade holder i liked but LED compatible. I quickly created by design with the builder and hope you could give it a look.

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...y_/Capture.jpg

Also what does the mom switch look like that is provided in the kit, i can't find any images.

[Beany]

Admittedly i am not looking forward to creating the shroud. Ideally i would have it look as it does but if i fail to make it i will simply alter the design. Also i am not doing sound either, my mind can only cope with so much.

[Matt Thorn]

A couple of things about your design.

1) You're using a 1.25" sinktube and an MHS adapter with a basic Style 1 blade holder. But you don't have anything to attach your (rather large) shroud to. Fixing it to the blade holder would be tricky, and you would have a hard time making sure the shroud is aligned with the switch and the hilt in general when it is screwed on.

2) You have a pommel in your pciture, but the MHS pommels cannot be attached to the 1.25 sinktubes the way you show them. That's one limitation of the 1.25" sinktube: extremely limited possibilities for pommels. If I were you, I'd stick with MHS parts. Here are a couple of very simple configurations that would give you plenty of surface to attach your shroud:


This is:

• Double-threaded Hilt Style 1
• Screw-On LED Blade Holder Style 1
• MPS Pommel Style 2

It's about 23.5 cm. If that's too short, you can go with this:

This is:

• Double-threaded Hilt Style 1
• Screw-On LED Blade Holder Style 1
• MPS Pommel Style 2
• Double ended male threaded connector
• 2 inch double female threaded connector

This version is about 30 cm.

As for the switch, this is the switch that comes with the kit. Since you are doing a direct drive of the LED without sound, you need a latching (as opposed to momentary) switch. Here are the ones Tim offers. Stylish, compact latching switches are rare. The guarded ones Tim offers are cool. Just keep in mind that if you want to use one of those guarded switches, you need to specify that when you order the main body of the MHS hilt. You also need to know that they are trickier to install, because you have to put the nut on from inside the hilt. The nice thing about the black switch that comes with the kit is that it is easy to install, and it is unobtrusive, so while it is not whoa-that's-cool, neither is it whoa-that's-dorky.

P.S.: You do NOT want a momentary switch. You want a latching switch. The kit offers the choice because some people might want to add a Hasbro sound board.

[Beany]

Thanks Matt, that's really helpful

One question though: Will o-rings fit over your suggested components?

Also does the LED kit come with a manual?

[Beany]

Also can a chrome end cap replace a pommel?

[Matt Thorn]

Thanks Matt, that's really helpful

One question though: Will o-rings fit over your suggested components?

Also does the LED kit come with a manual?

The O-rings Tim sells here at TCSS will fit the hilt perfectly. You'll need a lot of them if you want to cover pretty much the whole hilt with them. They are about 3.75 mm thick. Do the math yourself, and order a dozen extra just to be on the safe side.

As for a manual, before the Masters berate you for not exploring the forums adequately, I will point you here and here.

Also can a chrome end cap replace a pommel?

If you want to use the sinktube instead of the MHS hilt, yes, but it won't be a very secure pommel. I would stick with the MHS parts exclusively. It makes everything vastly simpler, and will give slicker results. And in case you did not already know, the 1.5" sinktubes Tim sells here fit perfectly over his MHS parts. That's why we use them to make shrouds. (In fact, Tim designed his MHS parts specifically to fit inside these sinktubes. Therein lies the beauty of his Modular Hilt System.)

Oh, and don't forget to order an MPS (Modular Pommel System) insert and clip, as well as a belt clip (Covertec or D-Ring)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

He can use a 1 1/4" sinktube for his saber without any problems:

A couple of those were built using the 1 1/4" tube that Tim sells in the store, the others were done using one ffrom my local hardware store. Tim's have a chrome nut that actually doesn't look too horrible as a pommel. The speaker grilles are just sink strainer that were cut to fit. So there is still an option of using a 1 1/4" sinktube, if you want to go that route. Even without sound, that just adds a finished look to the saber, and is there if you decide to upgrade to sound later.

I'm not trying to steer you away from the MHS, as I think it's the best way to get a semi-custom saber available, but I just thought in case you haven't seen these in the A to Z build Topics forums, that I'd point them out if you're on a budget.